McGee's other side
by rosie.lee.14
Summary: McGee has something to hide which Gibbs and Ducky think they know everything about and everyone else is left out of the loop until today. Gibbs feels pain for McGee who faints at the sight of the dead body which sends him a little loopy until Gibbs starts to share memories of past experiences. What could possibly happen to DiNozzo for him to end up in hospital?
1. How will McGee cope

Disclaimer…I do NOT own the NCIS characters unfortunately I only own my characters Tristan and Scarlet who you are welcome to use if you ask

McGee has a different side to him which only Gibbs and Ducky know about but neither have actually seen it before.

Character Profile: Tristan Emeka Robbins

Had anger issues at a younger age. McGee's Best friend from pre-school all the way through till the last day of high school when McGee had to move to go to a better collage to graduate from MIT. Although it took Tristan longer he eventually got the qualifications he needed for his dream job of working all the best tech in the navy with all the best ships at his command.

Chapter 1

Gibbs had heard of this Tristan from McGee's occasional ramblings on about his past so when the name hit his desk he immediately felt the blood rush to his feet as he turned a pale white thinking of what to say to McGee. In the end he decided that he should just go on as normal telling everyone "Gear up" and that they had a "dead commander" and the team thought nothing of it.

When they arrived McGee was the last to be on scene and fainted on sight of the dead body luckily Ziva was on hand to catch him. He woke up in Ducky's lab with Ducky laughing and making jokes about being the only live patient he's had in his lab. Then he started to remember why he was there and why he fainted, he stormed out of ducky's lab with ducky not even noticing he had left until he turned around and realised he was talking to himself, again.

McGee raced upstairs to the rest of the team for an update where Tony and Ziva were and just as they were about to speak Gibbs arrived saying "Ziva, DiNozzo address go and investigate" leaving McGee and Gibbs "let go for a walk Probie".

By the time they finished their walk they had explored the whole building without saying a word and McGee looked much calmer and was now able to speak but every time he started to speak he couldn't and it just brought back memories of being younger and getting frustrated with speech and after just 5 minutes of trying to speak he stormed off and went to Abby hoping for some peace and quiet where he doesn't have to speak.

When he turned up Abby was surprised because Gibbs would have surely sent him home. She sympathetically said do you want to talk and he tried to just say no but it came out as "n-n-nnn-n" then he just shook his head and cried in Abby's arms. Two hours later Abby's computer dinged and McGee was straight over there and saw an address and a face. It was a DNA trace found on the abandoned gun that shot Tristen, McGee memorised it instantly and was off. Abby went straight to Gibbs when this happened and Gibbs remembered Tim's profile, no wonder he was so annoyed. Tim had anger management classes all the way through his life until collage. Tim and Tristen used to keep each other calm at school but when they got home they were always angry and used to lash out and both got more violent with age both also hitting their parents but at sleepovers they were completely calm. So when they separated they must have learnt to be calm because neither was violent until now. Gibbs could see it in Tim's eyes and as usual as soon as Tony and Ziva were back they were out again, this time after McGee following the tracker Gibbs place in his car on the first day of meeting him. Gibbs almost forgot about the tracker as he never thought he would have to use it for something like this.

It didn't take Ziva long to catch up to McGee with Tony in the back hanging on for dear life and Gibbs riding shotgun. Gibbs put Ducky on standby for a dead body and Abby was just left in the lurch which was no surprise. McGee then realised how close his colleagues were and sped past a red light and down a side road trying to put Ziva off the sent but like a sniffer dog she followed the trail McGee left behind this one is a trail of chaos. Ten minutes of chasing later McGee arrived at the address. Kicking down the front door with his gun in his hand then the rest of the team arrived attempting to talk to the furious McGee. He just ignored everything they said. Gibbs had to think of the unthinkable and considered shooting McGee just to put a stop to him on this rampage. Gibbs tried once more to speak to Tim "remember what you taught me that two wrongs don't make a right"

" I I c-c-ca-ann'-tt s-sst-o-op-p b-b-os-ss-ss"

"Yes you can McGee!" desperate now with McGee holding the gun to the suspects head.

"H-h-h-el-pp mm-mm-ee pl-ee-a-se b-o-s-ss"

*GUN SHOT*

Fired by DiNozzo as a distraction then Ziva kicked the gun from McGee's hand pushed him over. Gibbs cuffed his wrists then their attention is turned back to their suspect as he legs it looking extremely guilty leaving Ziva to chase him down which took a little under 30 seconds.

"DiNozzo you and Ziva take my car with our runaway friend I'll take Probie" said Gibbs in anger.

"Yes boss" confirmed Tony and Ziva whist arguing about who is driving the bosses' car back.

Back at base

"How was probie boss?" asked DiNozzo

Gibbs blanked him completely and threw McGee into the interrogation room cuffs still on behind his back. Then Gibbs said "all he said was thank you and that's it but thanks for what?"

"Maybe because we stopped him from being a murderer" stated Ziva

"Where the hell have you been?" Asked the director "You know what, don't bother, where is McIdiot" Tony couldn't help but snigger at the directors choice of words but soon stopped as he received the Gibbs glare

"Leave him to cool Jenny"

"How could you let him get that far Jethro!"

"He was a grief stricken mad man with anger issues on an adrenaline rush. Come back to me when you've caught one of them".

Meanwhile in the interrogation room Tim found a paperclip stuck to the back of the chair with gum and was busy unpicking the lock not knowing if anyone was watching or not from behind the glass. It took a little under 11 minutes to undo the cuffs and Gibbs stupidly left the door unlocked. Tim stopped to think of the consequences of going on the run like how would he cope with his daughter Scarlet. So after thinking for all of two minutes he decided to just leave a note saying "I just get more and more angry every second I'm restrained, I haven't ran off far you can check from the tracker Gibbs put in my car I'm only going home, the thought of hurting any one of you is too much to bare. If you really need to restrain and question me you will have to come and get me from my apartment, I also need to check on Scarlet as she has just started walking home from school. Thank you all". He then snuck off the floor then he could just walk out of the lobby because nobody knew any different.

The first people to realise McGee's disappearance were Ducky and Gibbs. Gibbs had asked Ducky to do a psychology test on McGee whist he was being questioned but as Gibbs found out he was gone and left only a note which Ducky analysed. Gibbs was pacing up and down the hallway when Ducky interrupted saying "he thought about this and wasn't in a rush, how long did you leave him in there Jethro?"

"An hour tops" replied Gibbs

"Let me get this straight, you left a man with anger issues restrained in a room for an hour after fainting, losing his only childhood friend and nearly murdering someone"

"Yes, McGee can take it"

"I thought you of all people understood people with anger issues!"

"Fine I'll go ask him back nicely"

"Do what you want Jethro come to me when you come to your senses" said a very annoyed Ducky as he walked out of the room.

"Hey boss are you saying McGeek has anger issues?" asked Tony.

"That took you a while DiNozzo" he stated as he left the room to fetch McGee

"Ziva did you know that?"

"No but everyone has it in them, grief does things to people Tony

"Yeah I guess bu-"

"No buts Tony, he's still the same McGee he just needs a little help"

"You know Gibbs will just shout at him and make it worse"

"Yeah, so, Gibbs will just have to learn a lesson then"

"Don't let him hear you say that"

"Say what DiNozzo" Said Gibbs returning with coffee

"Nothing boss" they replied in sync

"Anyway I thought you were going to get Probie boss" said DiNozzo

"I sent someone a bit more sensitive than me"

"Who boss?"

"Abby, they will be back any second now" he actually sent Abby as soon as he found the note.

*Ding* the elevator arrives with Abby, McGee and Scarlet.

"Scarlet go and sit with Abby in her lab and do your science homework whilst I talk to agent Gibbs"

"Hello Mr Gibbs is dad in trouble?" asked Scarlet

"No I just need to talk to him about an old friend of his"

"Okay" replied scarlet.

Scarlet and Abby then went down to the lab and Gibbs gave Tony and Ziva a little project. Gibbs then grabbed Tim's arms put them behind his back and marched him to the interrogation room and locked the door this time so he sat at the table and smirked at the paper clip he left on the table so he stuck in back on the chair. Then Gibbs exploded in with a list of questions Ducky gave him to do his psychology test but his first question was "what the hell were you thinking McGee, I would expect this off Tony but not you"

"That's the point boss I wasn't thinking"

"Why are you still calling me 'boss' you'll be lucky to get a job cleaning the streets after the director is finished with you, look she doesn't know you're back here yet but when she does you cannot let her manipulate you again McGee"

"Got it bos- err sir"

"C'mon McGenius you know to just call me Jethro, right she's coming now"

Jenny then swapped places with Gibbs also completely ignoring Ducky's questions with her first question also being "what the hell were you thinking Agent McGee"

He replied with "wow I can see why you and Gibbs get along so well"

"I'm not even going to respond to that McGee where is your badge and gun?"

"I don't know"

"Where are they!"

"Ask Gibbs!"

"You are here by suspended pending the result of the private investigation by NCIS, now take your daughter and leave my building"

"Gladly" McGee said calmly exiting the room. He then picked up his daughter from Abby and left ignoring everyone's questions along the way, even Abby's. But Ducky was still unsure what to think about this new side to McGee as he was able to gather more than he should of so Ducky being Ducky slipped away from everyone seamlessly to make some calls.

Meanwhile the talk of the building was not only about McGee's rampage but how Gibbs could allow him to escape.

"Do you think he is going soft in his old age?" DiNozzo asked.

"No"

"Why do you think that?"

"Because he's standing right behind you"

"Ouch, good point Ziva" Tony said whilst being hit over the back of the by Gibbs.

"Jethro! Jethro! Jethro! " Ducky was shouting at the top of his lungs

"What's wrong now Ducky"

"Where's Timothy?"

"Suspended, why?"

"Come with me Jethro"

"What is it Duck?" Gibbs repeatedly asked on the way down to his lab where he kicked out palmer for some privacy

"Well you know McGee's anger issues"

"Yeah"

"Well I made a few calls and discovered that McGee has a really rare form of anger issues which is impossible to supress as well as McGee has shown"

"So he beat the stats what's wrong with that"

"It is quite literally impossible, he is putting it on that he is calm and I bet that as soon as his little girl is asleep he will go and destroy something we whether it's his apartment or someone's life Jethro"

"McGee wouldn't do that"

"But he isn't in the right state of mind"

"You better be right about this Duck" exiting the lab Gibbs sprinted up the stairs rather than waiting for the lift telling DiNozzo and Ziva to "gear up".

"Where we going boss?" asked Tony curiously

"To fetch McGee before he hurts someone, Ziva do you have a spare room at yours?"

"Yes Gibbs, why?"

"When we grab McGee you get Scarlet to pack a night bag and come straight back here I'll take my car you take yours and you ride shotgun with me DiNozzo"

Exactly seven minutes later they arrived at McGee's knocking politely on the door they could hear them both still awake but the tension seemed quite high and it rose even more when the team entered armed. Ziva immediately went to help the young teen whilst Gibbs tried to work his magic. As soon as Ziva left with the girl Gibbs got serious.

"McGee you need to come with us" Said Gibbs

"Why should I, you're not my boss anymore"

"But if you think about it McGeek you'll know that if you don't come voluntarily we will have to make you" interrupted DiNozzo.

"So make me, just remember what good it did last time Tony"

"C'mon McGee"

"Fine 'boss' go on cuff me I know your too scared not to"

Tony slapped the cuffs on McGee and they all left with the apartment in one piece.

When they got back to NCIS HQ Gibbs had no idea what to do with McGee who other than Abby was the most sensitive and caring person on his team. Gibbs had never seen such a stubborn side to Tim and decided to consult with Ducky who had been right all this time even though he won't admit that to anyone.

Arriving in Ducky's lab Palmer immediately left knowing he was no longer needed. Ducky explained to Jethro that McGee will now need a psychiatrist and daily appointments which was one of only a few things that NCIS HQ don't provide to which Jethro's response was "that's understandable and I can sort that but what do I do with him now I mean its 11pm and I can't even trust him to stay at home."

"I'm afraid you're on your own this time Jethro"

"Remember that rather big favour you owe me Duck?"

"Yes why Jethro?"

"Can you be his psychiatrist because you have all the qualifications and it's convenient considering you're here and we're up there?"

"Well that depends whether you're asking or ordering Jethro"

"A bit of both Duck"

"Well then I guess you better assist him down here assuming you have put him in cuffs again"

"How'd you guess Duck?"

"I'm guessing that you think he's mentally unstable at this point in time and if you did you were right"

Gibbs then went to fetch McGee which left Ducky clearing some sharp objects from his desk which was everything apart from his papers and his pen which he guarded knowing it could also be a weapon. Upon McGee's arrival Ducky demanded that Jethro get rid of the cuffs as McGee isn't under arrest which Jethro protested but lost. Ducky also requested that Jethro leave as all patients have a right to privacy which most certainly wasn't happy about. Gibbs offered checked in every 20 minutes to see if was Ducky okay to which he agreed.

"I know how bad your anger issues are Timothy" said Ducky who is the only one who uses McGee's full first name regularly.

"So what do you want a medal for searching through my private medical records because it was certainly not written where you should be able to access it"

"Why are you so angry Timothy, I understand he was your best friend but you taught even Gibbs that killing someone doesn't make it better"

"What a lot of you failed to notice is that I know that guy, we were like the three musketeers as Tony would say"

"Then what happened?"

"He betrayed us both, turning on us, bullying us as if high school wasn't hard enough being a geek he told everyone everything about us and exactly how to get to us, he always dodged the bullets and got away with anything he did"

"That is not good grounds for killing someone"

"You think I don't know that Ducky. He made our lives hell and has now killed one of his own the traitor"

"I can see you're not particularly comfortable with this subject let me get onto something else. Gibbs was recording you when you stormed off the first time; you didn't speak Tim, why?"

"I tried Ducky but it just made me angrier so I went to Abby, she just stood there and I didn't have to talk she knew what I was feeling so I just cried"

"Then the address popped up"

"Yeah, when I was in the car speeding away from the team everything felt right like that was the person I was m-ment to be"

"I know but you stopped before you shot the guy and that was the first time you spoke all day"

"Then I heard a gunshot and Gibbs cuffed me, at that point I wondered why I didn't just shoot myself because I thought the world would be better place, then an image of Scarlet appeared before me and that was there until I got into my car with Gibbs. That's when I said thank you to Gibbs which I don't think he understood"

"I'm not going to lie Timothy, it can take up to ten years to recover fully from this type of anger management issue and some don't recover"

"I know Ducky but I have a daughter to take care of and a team to work on so I will get better, nothing is going to stop me. When can I work again?"

"That is not up to me as I didn't take away your badge"

"Please put in a good word Ducky, I won't be able to cope without some form of reality"

"I can do that but you fainted at a crime scene, recklessly drove through busy streets endangering thousands of lives, potentially jeopardised an investigation, escaped custody and forced colleagues to be so scared of you that you had to be put in cuffs. There is not much I can do."

"I've been an idiot Ducky I know that but the one person who got me through this last time and turned me into the man I was is dead thanks to some jealous idiot."

McGee then collapsed to the floor and a tear ran down either side of his face as Jethro picked him up and said "let's go and talk to someone about a badge but you can forget having a gun" McGee laughed at that as they walked to see the director.

A/N: That's it for now, my first FanFiction so please review :)


	2. Has DiNozzo gone too far?

**Here's the next chapter to how McGee is coping, I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I do hope to update again soon as I have already started chapter three but school keeps you very busy especially catching up on coursework as well as the usual homework. I am sorry for any mistakes, English isn't my strongest subject although I do proof read. Reviews are appreciated :)**

After finding that the director had reinstated him McGee was thrilled, he sent Scarlet off to school and he was ready himself in under ten minutes. Five minutes later he found himself outside NCIS HQ, he almost ran to the elevator whilst lost in the excitement. He strolled into the bullpen grinning from ear to ear glad to see that nothing had changed however, Tony and Ziva not only looked shocked but also saddened by his return, maybe even disappointed. McGee's heart immediately sank at the realisation of what he had done. "Look I'm really sorry, nothing bad happened in the end anyway."

"Wow Probie back 30 seconds and you have already broken rule #6. Just one question, what made you think that you could walk in here and everything would go back to normal because an apology doesn't cut it?" said Tony.

"But -I I." McGee stuttered before bring interrupted by Ziva.

"No buts McGee you nearly shot someone which would have made you a murderer, jeopardised an investigation and worst of all made Gibbs consider shooting you which would have left your daughter without a mother and a father!" Ziva exclaimed. Everyone agreed to not talk about Scarlet's mum unless it was necessary but to Ziva it felt was necessary thinking she might get through to McGee.

"I can't change the past even if I want to but I can change the future if you give me half a chance" stated McGee.

"I think I'm able to forgive you McGee as the only person you hurt was yourself but trusting you will take time, especially with a gun"

"Same story here McProbie. I forgive easily but as you can tell from my extensive movie knowledge I don't forget a lot of things"

McGee got half way to his desk when Gibbs stepped into the bull pen and whispered "play nice with Tony I don't want my second dead NCIS agent of the day" then walked to his desk and shouted "gear up! Dead NCIS agent in the alley out back. McGee stay put I can't have you working a case first day back and figure out how to get this computer working then go and help Abby, she has some evidence mailed over from LA and I need it cleared before I get back with the new evidence.

"On it boss" replied McGee.

As the rest of his team left McGee switched the plug on for his bosses computer and left for Abby's lab.

Once he arrived he was greeted by some very loud music and a surprisingly short display of affection. Before McGee had the chance to think about speaking Abby interrupted saying "congrats McGee, I really thought you had lost you job forever but now you can work with me which you don't seem too happy about"

"It's not you Abby it's just that Gibbs won't let me work any cases for at least a week"

"Are you sure? It could be the director"

"I'm sure, it's Gibbs, I can tell"

"Maybe it's for the best McGee, it's only a week and you get to prove yourself to Gibbs this way"

"I suppose"

"Great now I need your help, you start looking for fingerprints; I'll run everything for DNA"

"Yes boss" chuckled McGee.

Meanwhile Gibbs was outside shouting orders to Ziva and Tony wondering what was taking so long.

"We can't work any quicker boss there's only two of us and you're busy with paperwork" stated DiNozzo

"Where you goin boss?"

"To fetch some more man power"

Gibbs left in quite a hurry wrecking his brains on who to call in. Then after five minutes he went and consulted with the director who approved Gibbs' decision. Gibbs then headed down to Abby's lab with Caf-Pow and spoke "McGee with me" as he handed Abby her favourite drink. On their way back to the crime scene Gibbs explained that he needed the extra pair of hands to speed up the investigation.

"I'm glad you picked me boss and by the way you just needed to switch your computer plug on"

"I knew that"

The pair then arrived at the crime scene where Tony almost dropped the camera in disbelief and by doing so he received the Gibbs glare and quietly went back to work. McGee then asked "what have I missed?"

"Not that. much Probie. I hear that Gibbs had to set you back a few years" replied DiNozzo.

"Yeah but it's worth it."

"But weren't you going to graduate with equivalent qualifications as Tony in six months?" questioned Ziva whilst interrupting the pair.

McGee simply replied "not quite but as I said, it's worth it" but Tony noticed the agitated look on his face as Ziva questioned him which as usual gave Tony an idea, he was going to see exactly how far he could push McGee.

"Just to think McGee you were only six months away from me no longer calling you Probie" said Tony with a smirk on his face.

"Oh ha ha funny, do you know what's funnier? It wasn't six months; it wasn't three months or two but one. One month Tony"

"I'm sorry McGee" replied Ziva

"Why are you apologising? It was his own fault, we didn't tell him to go to our prime suspects house and threaten to shoot him who later turned out to actually be guilty. In fact if it wasn't for us he would have pulled the trigger and would be in jail right now!" exclaimed Tony.

"Thanks for the reminder Tony, I was trying to turn over a new leaf but that is obviously not going to happen"

On that Gibbs arrived and could sense how high the tension was between his team so he decided to intervene. "Ziva ring Ducky and tell him and Palmer to hurry up whist I sort this out." Tony felt scared of Gibbs for the first time in months whereas McGee didn't flinch. "I don't care who has said what about who just finish the job in hand and I will speak to all of you before the day is up." This just angered McGee further and he stormed inside to get some peace which was short lived as Gibbs almost immediately followed him telling him to go back outside and finish the job he started, to Gibbs' surprise McGee obeyed.

Luckily it only took Ducky, once he arrived, fifteen minutes to examine the body and crime scene so as soon as the body was bagged McGee snuck inside hoping to avoid Gibbs and his 'talk' but, as usual Gibbs' famous gut sniffed him out only two minutes later. Gibbs then called Tony and Ziva to his desk where he had already made McGee sit; both agents pulled a chair with Ziva in between the two squabbling boys. Tony liked the idea of sitting together like this but his thought was interrupted by a sudden "So?"

"So what boss?" questioned Tony

"What happened in the alley?"

"Tony was pressing my buttons boss" replied McGee

"Liar!" Announced DiNozzo

"Well one of you is lying, so who is it? Ziva?"

"This had nothing to do with me apart from the video recording on my new camera phone which I put in my pocket so it's only audio. I was recording so in a few years McGee would remember his first case back fondly but obviously it never happened, it cuts off when I had to ring Ducky but you were there from that point onwards"

"Hand it over then Ziva"

"Don't you think you should trust your own team to tell you the truth first?"

"Well it's obvious neither of these two are going to tell me" Gibbs explained as Ziva handed over her phone with earphones. Gibbs then went to think in his office and called DiNozzo in after only two trips in the elevator. With them being the only two in there Gibbs flipped the power switch. "DiNozzo if you do anything like that again it will be you trying to get your badge back, it's hard enough for McGee to keep his temper without you sending him mental and personally one dead body is enough for me"

"He shouldn't be here if he is set off that easily besides the old McGee would nev-"

"He's still the same McGee DiNozzo" Gibbs stated whilst cutting off his senior agent mid-sentence and switching the power back on. "Now go out there and apologise to McGee"

"Yes boss" Tony was really surprised that he got off that lightly, he didn't even get a head slap. He walked up to McGee and said "sorry Probie I will try to be more sensitive from now on", he then proceeded to take a seat at his desk as he received a slap across the back of his head with a book along with the words "I'm warning you" from Gibbs.

The rest of the day went by without a hitch until McGee returned from his daily psych appointment with Ducky. Tony could see that McGee was at his weakest point and with Gibbs in a meeting with the director and Ziva was checking out Abby's latest finds in the lab he chose to strike starting off by unsuspectingly asking how Scarlet was and how school was for her but McGee was having none of it when he told Tony to "get lost."

After this response Tony realised he had to change his tactics and after a minute of deafening silence he had a brilliant idea. "Hey Probie, I think I might have a new nickname for you" McGee just blanked him further "can you guess what it is, it's from a movie?" McGee continued to ignore DiNozzo then he announced the nickname "well I'll just tell you then, it's the Hulk" Tony said grinning from ear to ear. McGee then looked up from his computer and saw what a kick Tony was getting from the display of anger on his face.

"You know Tony in all the years I have been here I've always found you annoying but now you're just pushing your luck"

On that Gibbs came out of the director's office to pick up something he left on his desk intentionally just to check up on McGee knowing he would have recently returned from Ducky's lab but got distracted by Tony's odd question "hey boss which is better Probie or Hulk?"

He received a simple response of "drop it DiNozzo" as he walked off failing to notice the angry expression on McGee's face.

"I think he prefers Hulk don't you?"

"I don't understand, why are you hell bent on setting me off, I can lose my job?"

"So what, we can't have someone on our team who can flip at any moment and ruin an investigation, it's too dangerous"

"So that's all I am to you now, a liability?"

"Yeah, just like to Hulk on a spaceship"

Then Tony finally got what he wanted which was both good and bad news. Good news because he could now prove McGee was too easily set off. The bad news was that it ended with Tony having a black eye, broken nose and the temporary loss of his legs due to where McGee kicked him, not to mention the fact that Tony was unconscious and McGee still continued punching giving him two cracked ribs. At this point three people were trying to stop McGee and failing. Gibbs could hear all of the noise from the director's office but had only just clocked that it was McGee, he then ran as fast as he possibly could to stop him but all it took to stop the young agent was "McGee snap out of it you're gonna kill him!" McGee then realised exactly he was doing and stopped. Gibbs then started barking orders "you, get Dr Mallard up here, you call 999 and get an ambulance here and let me put him in cuffs myself!"

All McGee was feeling was regret, he was so annoyed with himself. How could he get so out of control? This is exactly why he went home last time and now he had hurt one of his own team. The director was still in the meeting trying to sort out what Gibbs left her with but she knew exactly what had happened and had to call an early end to the meeting Ziva also had a gut feeling and returned to see Tony unconscious. Ducky immediately turned up at up at the scene and thankfully Tony was still alive, Ducky did what he could until the ambulance arrived and he was rushed to the nearest hospital with Ziva for company, at least then Gibbs knew Tony would be safe from now onwards.

Gibbs was once again left with a mess to sort out and the director to avoid with time running out as he could see the directors room emptying, Jenny must have known what had happened. Now it was Gibbs' turn to be annoyed and angry. He dragged McGee downstairs to autopsy and waited for Ducky to return which was just short of a minute later.

"How nice to see you both, so who am I talking to first?" questioned Ducky on his speedy return

"Why would you talk to Gibbs?" asked McGee

"Because it has been ten ye-, you haven't told him have you?"

"Nope but you just have. Thanks Duck" replied Gibbs

"Am I missing something here, are you saying you have anger issues too?"

"Not just any anger issues Timothy" replied Ducky.

"You are just like me aren't you; you are one of the ten people who have this?"

"Yes McGee, difference is I only flip once every ten years give or take a few weeks and the last time I flipped just happened to be ten years ago so right now you're in the firing line and considering you have just put my longest serving senior agent in hospital you would deserve it but I have a place to go and let my anger out and it's not on people"

"Just show him Jethro"

"You ever wondered why I don't have an office of my own McGee?"

"No boss"

"Well that is because I requested the room be turned into a room where you can take out your feelings, anger issues or not and it has helped a good couple hundred agents throughout its existence"

"Why didn't I know about this?"

"Because nobody ever saw this side to you, the room is upstairs near the director's office, if you need me I'll there for the next hour" Gibbs then left autopsy and walked straight into the waiting elevator.

"So Timothy are you going to tell me what happened?"

"After you answer me this, is that all the time he takes to calm down after a flip?"

"No, this is a usual nightly occurrence; he will be in there for exactly one hour then will leave, normally to go home but this time to see Tony. So what happened?"

"Tony happened; he just kept calling me Probie and Hulk then constantly reminding me that I can't be a senior agent for another three years"

"You do know that you could have appealed against this and could have still been six months away from technically classed as an equivalent senior field agent"

"Yeah but I wanna pass with no hitches unlike Tony"

"You know Jethro probably would have also let you graduate early if you asked nicely but you have no chance now"

"I was gonna ask for the three years to be reduced once the week was up but then I did something this stupid. I didn't even get a thrill or any sense of revenge out of it"

"See now we are getting somewhere. You display exactly the same pattern as Gibbs and I think you will have the same recovery period too"

"How long was his recovery period?"

"That I cannot share with you Timothy but it will pretty much the same if you follow in his footsteps and learn from your mistakes as well as his"

"Just fifty eight minutes until he goes to see Tony, do you think he will let me see him?"

"Well the fact that you're still in cuffs doesn't give me that good an impression"

"Thought not, wanna press the elevator button for me Ducky?"

"Of course Tim" chuckled Ducky "oh and one more thing, don't interrupt him unless you're feeling especially brave".

It took McGee longer than usual to get up the stairs to the director's office after taking a diversion out of the elevator to find something to pick the cuffs with but wisely deciding to leave it after swerving to avoid Abby and keeping his head down in the shame of what he had done. He checked the nearest clock "fifty five minutes" he whispered to himself. He thought really carefully about going in to see Gibbs and ten minutes later just as he was about to tap the door it flung open to the words of "I wondered what had taken you so long, let me guess Ducky warned you"

"Yeah"

"Last time he interrupted me I nearly mistook his face for a punch bag"

"Don't you think we should go and see Tony boss?"

"No, if you're like me you will stay in this room for the remainder of the hour and get rid of all the anger in your body which is why I'm wearing boxing gloves"

"I have a problem with the gloves because my hands are in cuffs behind my back boss"

"I guess you do" Gibbs said whilst spinning McGee around to unlock the cuffs "put these on, they're new so you will have to wear them in" Gibbs handed McGee a new a pair of boxing gloves.

"So there are mine?"

"Yes McGee, if you want them and don't let your feelings take over your mind it will control your speech, that's why you stutter, I figured that out a very long time ago."

"Thanks boss"

Exactly forty five minutes later McGee and Gibbs left the room with Gibbs saying "now, I'm going to see DiNozzo" a wall of guilt hit McGee at the mention of Tony's name "if you're coming you are wearing cuffs at his bedside"

"I don't think he will want to see me and I can't apologise it's against rule six"

"I think I can make an exception for the rule but it's your job to convince Tony"

"I'll do my best boss and thank you"

"Oh and I'm driving, the last time I seen your driving I nearly had a heart attack" Gibbs said smiling with McGee in tow.

Twenty minutes later they arrived at the hospital Tony was in and made their way to his room. Before they entered Gibbs put McGee in cuffs and told him to behave. They walked in and to their surprise Tony was still out cold. Guilt just poured into McGee's heart as the doctor read the long list of injuries, he couldn't look anyone in the eye knowing what he had done but there was some hope as the doctor said that he will pull through and that he would be back at work in a couple of months although it would be a good idea to stay out of the field for a while which Gibbs didn't like the idea of.

It was another three hours until Tony came around with a massive headache and was extremely confused as to what happened and how the last thing he was McGee's fist. Did McGee really do this to him? As he slowly woke up he recovered more and more memories and none of them good, he than recalled not being able to do anything when McGee was punching him and that all of his attempts to stop McGee failed.

As he looked up he saw Gibbs pacing outside with a coffee, Ziva asleep in the chair next to him and McGee in the chair furthest away from him. Nobody had noticed he was awake yet and he didn't want to move so he took longer to make sense of his surroundings and as he did so he noticed that McGee was in handcuffs which provided him with some comfort. Tony tried to move his arm and let out a near silent groan trying not to wake Ziva but it was enough to get McGee's attention, they both sat in silence neither knowing what to say then McGee spoke "Guess you were right, Hulk on a spaceship"

"You prefer Hulk then do ya?"

"Up to you, both are equally annoying"

"What happened McGee, the last thing I remember was hitting the deck from a punch in the face off you?"

"I'm so sorry Tony, I-I just lost it, I had only just come back from Ducky's as well which is the hardest point of the day for me"

"It's my fault too Probie, I wanted to see how far I could push you, I guess I pushed you too far. Did you get fired?"

"Well I have managed to avoid the director this far so I don't know. Should I get Gibbs?"

"Yeah, no hard feelings?" asked Tony

"Fine by me, you're the one in hospital. Hey boss, he's awake" he called to Gibbs also alerting Ziva's supposedly razor sharp hearing.

Gibbs then rushed in, as Gibbs questioned DiNozzo Ziva went to fetch a doctor. The doctor said that DiNozzo had to stay in for a couple of days and that he would need someone to care for him. Ziva explained that she didn't have the room which left McGee and Gibbs. McGee immediately volunteered but was interrupted by Gibbs saying "no chance, he'll stop with me. You two can't work under the same roof so what on earth makes you think you can live together"

"Nice to know you care so much boss" said DiNozzo.

Then the doctor left grinning at DiNozzo's words. Gibbs then slapped him over the head and said "don't ever scare me like that again"

"What? You actually thought that I wouldn't recover from Probie's weakling punches"

"McGee's punches had you out freezing for hours Tony and you're calling him a weakling? That morphine is definitely messing with your head"

"It's out cold Ziva and McProbie couldn't hurt me if he tried" replied DiNozzo as he saw McGee beginning to smile in the background "Boss don't you think you can let the Hulk lose now?"

"Not my decision DiNozzo" replied Gibbs

"I say let the Hulk roam free before he uses the stuff on the table behind him to unpick his own cuffs."

A/N: Don't forget to review, I hope to update soon. :)


	3. The return of the film buff

"Thanks for looking after me boss but I'm just glad to be going home and everything going back to normal. Thanks for the lift too."

"Glad you appreciate it DiNozzo, don't be late tomorrow, first day back"

"Right boss"

Tony then sat on his own couch for the first time in months and he didn't realise how comfortable it was. That night he fell asleep on there and woke up the next morning to the alarm Gibbs had somehow managed to set on his phone. He got up tired but he never thought he would be this excited to see everyone including McGee despite all the frequent visits he got from everyone at NCIS.

When he arrived at HQ he realised how excited McGee must have felt on his first day back. He ran to the elevator and it couldn't have arrived fast enough. Once he stepped out of the elevator he took a deep breath and spoke "hello everyone I have arrived to save the day" which made Ziva smile as she noticed that his ego hadn't been damaged. DiNozzo looked around and to his surprise McGee wasn't at his desk he then questioned Ziva on the subject whose response was "I can't believe he didn't tell you"

"What did Probie not tell me now?"

"You didn't really think he could avoid the director forever did you?"

"No but I at least thought Gibbs would have got him out of some trouble"

"He is only suspended and since you and your ego have made a full recovery I'm sure you can put in a good word with Jenny"

Then as if by magic Gibbs appeared welcoming DiNozzo back officially which he was obviously not interested in. "How do we get McGee back boss?"

"For a start get him to apologise to Jenny and drop his attitude towards her, she doesn't take kindly to it. Then of course drop any charges she has filed for you against McGee and get the Hulk to go to extra anger management classes"

"That's quite a list boss but why didn't Probie apologise in the first place?"

"That could be to do with me telling him to fight with his words and not his fists"

"So where is he?"

"At home playing teddy bears picnic whilst Scarlet is at school, he is really that bored, he sent Ziva a text message thing saying so"

"Typical Probie, I take it it's my job to go and get him"

"It would be if he hadn't been banned from the premises but I'll get that sorted. Meanwhile you can help Ziva look at this shop footage since we have no murders to investigate we are stuck with petty crimes like the shoplifting backlog from the local cops who think their criminals are Navy"

"On it boss" Tony replied as Gibbs left the bullpen.

Half an hour later Ziva and Tony had cracked 5 crimes all shoplifting from just a handful of CCTV videos and Gibbs was just returning. "So?" questioned Tony eager to get his work mate back

"Go and get him then"

"On it boss, what should I do if he won't come back with me?" asked Tony as he was leaving

"Don't come back"

After a slow drive to McGee's apartment Tony prepared himself for the worst but to his surprise McGee answered the door almost immediately and was extremely happy considering he had no longer got a job and had given up hope on the director allowing him back on NCIS premises. "Hey McGoo did you hire a cleaner?"

"No I've just had a lot of time on my hands after being suspended and the director won't even put me out of my misery and tell me I'm fired"

"Do you even want to go back?"

"Well it would be nice, it's better than the caretaker job at my local coffee shop around the corner"

"Good because if you don't come back with me I don't get to go back, lets go McGeek"

They then left McGee's apartment talking about what McGee has been doing for two months and why nobody mentioned him being suspended, again.

After the short ride back to NCIS Tony understood that nobody wanted to set his recovery back but was still slightly annoyed however he let it slide considering he needed to McGee in a good mood to speak to the director. Once they entered the building McGee turned completely professional which Tony found oddly disturbing. Before McGee went to the director's office he went to visit Gibbs for reassurance. "I've done all I can Tim, the rest is up to you"

"Boss I'm so sorry I was really stupid, I …"

"McGee, focus, it's the director you should be apologising to not me. Don't let her manipulate you but you make damn sure you walk out of there with a job or I'll kill ya myself"

A/N: What do you think? Only short but I tought it would be a good idea to update this story as it has been a while. Please read my other stories if you get the opportunity :)


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